Clipping system

ABSTRACT

A device for applying a U-shaped metal clip to a bag wherein two cooperating pivoted closing members having anvil surfaces are caused to receive the clip encircling the neck of the bag by means of camming sockets in a reciprocal plate which also includes provision for the crimping ram.

United States-Patent [191 Roberts et a]. [4 1 Apr. 17, 1973 CLIPPING SYSTEM [75] Inventors: John T. Roberts, Simpsonville; [56] References Cited Philip L. Reid, Greenville, both of UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,350,766 11/1967 ,Schroeder ..2 /21l D [73] Assignee: W. R. Grace & Co., Duncan, SC.

221 Filed: Dec. 15 197 Primary Examiner-Thomas H. Eager Attorney-John J Toney et al.

[21] Appl. No.: 208,502

Related US. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 9,868, Feb. 9, 1970, Pat. No 3,648,430.

US. Cl. ..29/2ll D, 29/243.56

Int. Cl ..B23q 7/10, 823p 1 1/00 Field of Search 29/21 1 D, 208 D, 29/21] R, 208 R, 243.56

[57] ABSTRACT A device for applying a U-shaped metal clip to a bag wherein two cooperating pivoted closing members having anvil surfaces are caused to receive the clip encircling the neck of the bag by :means of camming sockets in a reciprocal plate which also includes provision for the crimping ram.

3 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENIEDAPR 1 H873 SHEET 1 BF 5 FIG. I

SHEET 2 BF 5 FIG. 5

PATENTED APR 1 7 I973 SHEET 3 BF 5 PATENTED APR 171975 SHEET 5 BF 5 FIG. 8B

CLIPPING SYSTEM This is a division of application Ser. No. 009,868, filed Feb. 9, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,648,430, issued Mar. 14, 1972.

My invention relates to packaging apparatus and methods for packaging and more particularly to the vacuumizing and closing of bags and like products.

It is an object of my invention to provide a new and improved clipping apparatus.

A further object of my invention is to provide such apparatus in a system whereby a bag may be feed into the operation, vacuumized and closed while being transferred to an outlet position from the system.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a system that is economical to manufacture and economical to operate.

It is further object of this invention to provide such a system that lends itself to operation by unskilled operators and requires the least manual manipulation of the product commensurate with the expense of operation and cost of equipment.

A clipper is provided having reciprocal powering means including two camming sockets. A pair of pivotal closing members is provided each of which has one end engaged in a respective socket and the other end provided with a surface formed to engage the outer ends of the legs of a clip for folding them toward one another upon a'closing movement of the reciprocal powering means.

The clipper has a reciprocal unitary plate ram that has two camming sockets that are rounded cut out portions of a large cut out region therein. The rounded cut out regions face one another and a punch member integral with the plate projects into the large cut out region between the camming sockets. A pair of pivotal closing members pivoted intermediate their ends have rounded lobe ends engaged in a respective one of the sockets. The other ends of the pivotal members pivot toward and away from one another in response to the reciprocation of the plate member. These ends have facing surfaces with inwardly curving grooves formed therein that serve both as a direct crimping means against the legs of a clip engaged therein and also as an anvel means allowing the clip leg tips to slide therein to complete the closure of the clip upon the inward movement of the clip by the punch as the camming sockets close the pivoting means thereon. An inside shoulder on each of the pivotal closing members serves as a guide to guide the clips into position for crimping.

By still another aspect of our invention we have provided a clipping particularly useful in the vacuumizing apparatus described in US. Pat. No. 3,64 8,430. In a preferred form a moving slot means having a constant path of travel engages a nozzle and a second movable slot means mounted for movement relative to and with the first clamping means clamps the nozzle therebetween. The nozzle has a mounting means that controls the movement of the second clamping means relative to the first clamping means. The first clamping means carries the nozzle in its path of travel while a vacuum source evacuates an item carried thereby and a clipper positioned in the path of travel is activated by the movement of the carried item to seal the item.

Further aspects of the present invention will become apparent hereinafter and the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter that we regard as our invention. The invention however as to organization and method of operation together with other objects and advantages, can best be understood by referring to the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation in perspective view of a vacuumizing and closing system using my invention. I

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic representation in fragmentary side elevation view with parts broken away of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic representation in perspective view of the clamping means 47 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation in side elevation view of the nozzle 21 of FIG. 2 in both its down clamped position and its raised clamped position.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation in plan view of the cam of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic representation in fragmentary perspective view with parts broken away of the opening camming operation of arm 372 of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation in plan view with parts broken away of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 8A is a diagrammatic representation in plan view with parts broken away of a portion of the clipper of FIG. 7.

FIG. 8B is another diagrammatic representation in plan view with parts broken away of the clipper of FIG. 8A showing additional parts and the clipper in closed position.

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation in cross section of a portion of the clipper feed track of FIG. 8B.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of my vacuumizing and closing device or apparatus is shown therein. The apparatus 10, includes a product on slide belt conveyor 1 l, a through slide belt conveyor 12, which as shown is also the product out conveyor. The apparatus has a clipping section 13 in addition to its vacuumizing section, which constitutes most of the apparatus. Of course, the apparatus also has, as a portion of the vacuumizing section part, a transporting section. The same parts function cooperatively in this machine to form each of the sections and their functions.

The apparatus shown displays only four nozzles 20, 21, 22 and 23 for purposes of illustration, whereas in actual fact six are present on the specific machine in operation. The number can be more or less depending on the particular time sequence and number of operators who will operate the equipment and like considerations. For clarity of illustration only four are shown. Of course, the parts and operation are the same regardless of the number of nozzles employed.

The vacuumizing and closing device 10 has a stand 24 which is shown in partial view in FIG. 1 which supports the device. A rigid hollow tubular member 25 is securely fastened to the stand 24 and an enlarged rotating member 26 is journaled thereon for rotation by the chain drive means 27 which is engaged on sprocket 30. The chain is driven at a constant speed by the driving means 31 which is powered by an electric motor 32 through gear box 33 and sprocket 34 which are mounted on the stand 24. The inside of member is hollow and has a vacuum supplied from a source (not shown) through the vacuum hose 35 to an evacuation chamber 36 which is connected via ports (not shown) in the tubular member 25 to the vacuum passage or channel 37 (FIG. 2). The vacuum channel 37 is connected to plenum chamber 40 which connects with hoses 41, 42, 43 and 44 which respectively supply the vacuum to the respective nozzles 21, 22, 23 and 24. The inside of the passage 37 may be cleaned out through opening 45 which is opened through trap 46.

Each nozzle 21 22, 23 and 24 has a respective one of the mechanical nozzle clamps 47 shown in phantom lines in FIG. 1, only one of the mechanical nozzle clamps being shown. As may be seen in FIG. 3 the clamp 47 contains 2 linkage arms 50 and 51. Arm 51 has one end 52 pivotally secured to the bottom surface of the clamping plate 53 (FIGS. 1 and 3) and the other end 54 pivotally secured to the pivotal clamp head 55. Clamp arm 50 has one end 57 secured to the base 60 of the mounting arm 61. The other end 62 of the arm 50 is pivotally secured to the side of the pivotal clamping head 55. The arm 50 is rigidly mounted to the bracket 60 so that as the nozzle 21 is moved into the slot 63 (FIG. 1) of the clamping table 53 it will pull the forward edge of the pivotal clamping head 55 forward causing it to rotate on the arm 51 on which it is positioned. As the arm 50 continues to pull the slotted edge of the clamping member 55 forward it causes it to rotate on the arm 51 until it closes against the outside clamping surface 64 (FIG. 4) of nozzle 21. The opening 65 of the clamping head 55 is slightly larger than the circumference of the outer surface 64 to assure the easy entrance of the nozzle surface 64 into the clamping head 55. The clamp parts are maintained closed in their clamping position by the slight over center positioning of the arm 51 so that it in effect has a snap fit.

As also shown in FIG. 1 and illustrated in FIG. 16, the nozzle is clamped in its lower or down position and secured in this position by the clamping head 55 against the outside clamping region surface 64. The bag is normally in position and clamped between head 55 and surface 64. The bag is usually made of a somewhat resilient material so that it has some give to it. It is generally necessary that the bag more than fill the free region between the inside 65 of the closed clamp head 55 and the surface 64 and yet not be in such excess quantity that the clamping means will actually penetrate through the bag. The clamp holds the loaded bag in position and maintains the nozzle in the down position until it is moved by the lifting of the arm 61 by the outwardly movement of the follower wheel 66 which is connected directly and positively to arm 61. Arm 6] is pivoted at 67 in bracket 60 (FIG. 2). The cam 70 is shown in schematic layout in FIG. 5 and it will be understood that the clipper section 13 is in cam section 5. The nozzle begins its upward movement in section 4 of the cam and is up in section 5. The nozzle lowers again in section 6 of the cam. The cam thereby reciprocates arm 61 between a raised and a lowered position. The high area of the cam pushes the wheel 66 (FIG. 1) outwardly and this directly lifts the outer end of the arm 61 and the nozzle carried thereon.

The nozzle is of a very simple and advantageous construction. In FIG. 4 it may be seen that the nozzle has a central pin member or rod valve control member 71 which is secured in an axial passage passing through a tubular housing member or outer housing body 72 which has a reduced nozzle snout portion or tip 73 with a vacuumizing inlet opening into the passageway and a hand grip region 73 formed on its outer surface. The valving end 74 is pulled open initially by an operator who places the neck of a bag around the nozzle and extending well up on the hand grip and by gripping the hand grip over the bag pulls down opening the nozzle by pulling the housing 72 away from tip inlet closing portion 74 that mates with the nozzle inlet, opening the vacuum passage 75 from the vacuum source inlet therethrough. The table 53 rotates continuously and the operator pushes the arm 61 into slot 63 while holding the handle down. The clamping means 47 closes overcenter and is thereby locked in position until unlocked by the engagement of projection 76 with a cam wheel 77 as shown in sectional view in FIG. 6. Cam 77 would be in quadrant 5 of cam 70 and depends from the lower surface thereof and acts substantially simultaneously with the clipping of the bags neck. As the projection passes over wheel 77 the arm 61 would pivot on bearing 80 (FIG. 2) moving arm 50, which is rigidly attached thereto, unlocking clamping means 47 and swinging it and arm 61 back to the position shown in FIG. 1. Slot 63 and the slot in the clamping means 47 serve as nozzle body engaging means engageable with the outside of the nozzle body.

As soon as surface 64 is released the vacuum lifts the housing 72 on the valve rod 71 shutting off the vacuum nozzle 21. As may be seen the only vacuum seal required between the parts that move is an O-ring 81 on O-ring seat 82 at the enlarged end or head 83 of the valve rod 71 within and matting with the inside dimension of the tubular members passageway. The housings movement is limited by pin or lug 84 in slot 85 in the sidewall of the nozzle body. The slot is adjacent to and opens to the sidewall of head 83 on which the lug is located as may be seen in FIG. 4. The lug is, of course, smaller than the slot and this provides free movement of the lug between the top and bottom of the slot determining the fully opened and fully closed position of the nozzle due to the full movement of the control member relative to the nozzle body. The vacuum source inlet opens into the passage between the enlarged end of the nozzle control member and the nozzle inlet.

The vacuum nozzle is mounted by hooking slot mounting member or means 86 connected outside of the nozzle body over shaft or pin rod 87 which is mounted in the arm 61. The relative position of positioning member 86 and the nozzle body engaging means to one another positions the control member and the nozzle body relative to one another between two positions to open and close the nozzle inlet. As may be seen in FIG. 4 there is sufficient space between shaft 87 and plate 90 and plate 91 to enable the nozzles removal simply by rotating the nozzle clockwise and slipping the slot 86 off of shaft 87. When the nozzle is positioned on shaft 87 and depends downwardly the plate 90 prevents its dislodgement from the shaft 87. The inlet 92 in the sleeve housing 72 is connected to the vacuum hose 41 for supplying the vacuum to the nozzle.

empty where it extends just below plate 53 and it will be carried by the tables rotation into the restricted throat 93 of clipper 23 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7.

The clipper may be seen in enlarged view in operating'sequence in FIGS. 8A and 88. FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the clip feed track. Clips are fed through feed track 94.

As the bags neck engages the back of the throat 93 of. clipper 13 the clipper is pushed backward thereby. The clipper may be seen in FIG. 7 to pivot about rotat ing member'25 being mounted on an extension or arm 95 of collar 96, which collar rest on a support ring 97 (FIG. 2) secured to member and rotating therewith. Collar 96 moves independently of member 26 on a bearing surface 100 anda thrust bearing surface 101. It is obvious that the clipper'support and operation parts shown in FIGS. 2 and 7 have been entirely omitted from FIG. 1 for clarity of illustration. An extension or arm 102 extends from the opposite side of the collar from arm 95. A counter weight 1 12 is positioned at the outer end of arm 102 both to counter the weight of clipper 13 and provide the proper initial operating feature to the clippers operating means. The counter weight 1.02 may be seen to depend from the end of arm 102 and to be restrained by a helical spring 104 which maintains the clipper in its forward position ready for receipt of the neck of a bag. The helical spring 104'is secured to stand 24. As the counter weight 102 is rotated against the bias of the spring 104 it engages a switch arm 105 on switch 106. The depression of switch arm 10S activates solenoid valve 107 which is connected by airlines 110 to a source of compressed air supplying air to the air cylinderv 111 to drive the plunger therein to close a clip about the neck of the bag as will be explained hereinafter. The switch handle 105 has sufficient override to allow a sufficient period of time for the clipping operation to be completed and the neck of the-bag severed.

The clipper 13 has a piston rod (not shown) of air cylinder 111 directly connected-to the reciprocaland out or toward and away from one another as the ram plate is moved forward and retracted. A clip 132 is fed into the path of the punch 124 by a sharp pulse of air from pulse jet 128. The clipis blown down the track 94 which is formed between ram plate 112 and plate 113 and asshown in cross section in FIG. 9. The inside edges 133 and 134 of fingers 122 and 123 are wide'adjacent to plate 113 and diminish upwardly so that they form a camming surface at the end of the clip track, causing the clip to move up into the relative ly rounded grooves 136 and 137 for operation. Of course, each camming surface 133 and 134 is matched with the slanted entry of the clip and of the off set of I the grooves 136 and 137 which are formed in the tingers in the region where they pass each other in closing the clip. The generally inwardly curving grooves 136 and 137 may be seen to be formed on facing surfaces formed on the ends of the fingers opposite the lobes and 131. These facing surfaces engage the outer ends of the legs of a clip and fold them toward one another upon a closing movement of the reciprocal powering means 1 12. e

The punch comes in, in timed sequence with the clip and procedes to finish feeding the clip until the outer tips 140 and 141 of the clips legs 142 and 143 engage securely in the closing channels 136 and 137. The tips of the clips legs 142 and 143 both slide along in the channels and at the same time are bent by reciprocation of the channels inwardly toward one another and by the shape of the channels. Thus the clip is formed .to a very advantageous configuration. such as is shown in FIG. 19. Clearance wells 144 and 145 allow the ram tomove fully forwardto close the fingers without engaging the intermediate regions 146 and 147 of the fingers which carry the camming surfaces 133 and 13. There is sufficient override in the engagement of the lobes 130 and 131 by the rotational camming socketsto allow a pin 150 (FIG. 7), which is mounted on ram 112, to en gage a knife blade 151 riding in channel members 152 and 153 and push the blade through the constricted neck of a bag serving it and allowing the clipped and bagged product to .fall to the conveyor 12 without further distorting the clip 132. Spring 149 returns blade 151 to its starting position upon retraction of the ram. To open the fingers 122 and, 125 it is only necessary to retrack the ram 112 by releasing the switch handle 105 which reverses valve 107 driving the piston in the reverse direction powering the retraction of the ram 112. Y

The severing of the bags neck causes the bag to fall and, of course, then there is no longer anything pushing members or clip closing fingers 122 and 123 respec- I tively which are pivoted intermediate their ends. The fingers and the punch cooperate to close the clip 124. The fingers 122 and 123 are mounted on pivot pins 125 and 126 respectively which are secured between the plates 113 and 114 by being trapped therebetween as are the fingers themselves. Each of the fingers 122 and 123has a lobe, 130and 131 respectively at one of their ends engaged in a respective camming rotation socket against the clipper 13 and therefore spring 104 draws counter weight 112 away from switch handle 105 retuming the clipper to its original .position. The

release of switch arm 105 reverses valve 107supplying air to the outside of the piston in cylinder 111 retracting ram 112.

plies power to theswitch 106. The switch 106 is connected by wires 164 and 165 to the solenoid 107.

It may be seen from the foregoing discussion that the vacuumizing and closing device 10 not only vacu'u-.

mized and closed the bag but conveyed the bag so prepared or, that is, while in preparation, to the opposite side of the device from the feed in of belt conveyor l1 and fed or deposited the prepared bag from the device on belt conveyor 12.

Turning now to a particular operation of the packaging system of our invention, in a preferred operation thereof bagged poultry products are vacuumized and the bags closed by clipping.

Thus, a bird 166 is delivered to the vacuumizing and clipping apparatus by a conveyor 11. Conveyor 12 passes through the apparatus 10 and may be considered a part thereof in the broader sense. The conveyor 11 automatically transfer the bird to conveyor 12. At the vacuumizing and closing station the operator standing in position 167 (FIG. 1) lifts the bag upwardly and secures the mouth of the bag around the handle 73 (FIG. 4) of the nozzle 21. As the operator secures the mouth of the bag around the handle 73 he inserts the tip of the nozzle 74 into the birds open cavity at the same time. Of course, the bird is in the bag with its body cavity facing the mouth of the bag. The operator then pulls down on the nozzle and the continuously rotating plate member 53 moves to engage the nozzle 21 in slot 63 where the nozzle is clamped by clamping means 47. This holds the nozzle in the open position with the bag therearound. The plate 53 continues its rotation and as it rotates cam follower 66 reaches sector 5 where the cam 70 raising the nozzle to allow an empty length of bag between the bird and the nozzle tip 74. The neck of the bag between the top of the bird and the nozzle tip 74 is carried by the plate into the clippers throat 93 (FIG. 7). The clipper clips the neck of the bag and the bag is severed substantially simultaneously therewith. The bag falls down onto the belt 12 and is conveyed by belt 12 out of the vacuumizing closing apparatus for further processing or for boxing or storage and the like.

While in accordance with the patent statutes, we have described the best mode contemplated by us for carrying out our invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the present invention and we, therefore aim in the following claims to cover all such equivalent variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

We claim:

, l. A device for applying a U-shaped metal clip to a bag comprising:

a. a pair of cooperating closing members having end portions pivoted intermediate the end portions, one end portion of each of said closing members having facing surfaces adapted to receive one leg ofa U-shaped metal clip and the other end portion of each of said closing members adapted to engage a camming socket as described in (b) below,

b. a reciprocal powering means adapted to move from one terminus to another opposite terminus in a stroke and comprising a plate having two camming sockets comprising facing recesses or cut out portions, each of said recesses or cut out portions adapted to receive and engage one other end portion of said closing member so that said one end portions are spaced apart at one terminus of the powering means and in a closely spaced adacent relationship at the other terminus of the powering means, and

c. means for positioning a portion of a bag between said closing members, and

d. means for delivering a U-shaped clip to the facing surfaces of said other end portions of said closing members and encircling said bag portion when said powering means and camming sockets have caused the one end of each of said closing members to move to an adjacent relationship, and

e. means for crimping said clip about said bag.

2. The clipper of claim 1 wherein said reciprocal powering means is a unitary plate ram, said camming sockets are rounded cut out portions of a large cut out region in said plate, said rounded cut out regions facing one another, a punch member integral with said plate and projecting into said large cut out region and between said camming sockets, a rounded lobe on each of said one end of each of said pivotal closing members, the said lobe portion being the portion of said one end engaged in said camming socket for the rotational pivoting of said pivoting means to open and close said means toward and away from one another, said other ends facing surfaces having grooves formed therein which grooves are inwardly curving in general configuration and serve both as a direct crimping means against the clip leg and also as an anvil means allowing the clip leg tips to slide therein to complete the closure of the clip upon the inward movement of clip by said punch as the camming sockets close said pivoting means thereon.

3. The clipper of claim 1 wherein said clipper has a top plate, a bottom plate and a pair of spacer members each of said spacer members spaced at opposite edges of and between said two plates separating said plates and said plates and said spacer being secured together to form a channel therebetween, said unitary plate ram being reciprocally mounted in said channel between said plates, a pair of pivot pins trapped between said plates, a respective one of said pivotal closing members pivotally mounted on said pivot pins, an inner shoulder on each of said pivotal closing members between said ends thereof, each of said shoulders having an edge that slopes outwardly toward said lower plate, a clip feed track passing through said unitary plate ram adjacent to said lower plate, said clip feed track directed to said shoulders which are spaced apart at their widest dimension slightly less than the widest width of the clip so that the clip will ride upwardly on said sloping shoulders popping into the path of said punch member and into the grooves of said pivotal members for crimping thereby. 

1. A device for applying a U-shaped metal clip to a bag comprising: a. a pair of cooperating closing members having end portions pivoted intermediate the end portions, one end portion of each of said closing members having facing surfaces adapted to receive one leg of a U-shaped metal clip and the other end portion of each of said closing members adapted to engage a camming socket as described in (b) below, b. a reciprocal powering means adapted to move from one terminus to another opposite terminus in a stroke and comprising a plate having two camming sockets comprising facing recesses or cut out porTions, each of said recesses or cut out portions adapted to receive and engage one other end portion of said closing member so that said one end portions are spaced apart at one terminus of the powering means and in a closely spaced adjacent relationship at the other terminus of the powering means, and c. means for positioning a portion of a bag between said closing members, and d. means for delivering a U-shaped clip to the facing surfaces of said other end portions of said closing members and encircling said bag portion when said powering means and camming sockets have caused the one end of each of said closing members to move to an adjacent relationship, and e. means for crimping said clip about said bag.
 2. The clipper of claim 1 wherein said reciprocal powering means is a unitary plate ram, said camming sockets are rounded cut out portions of a large cut out region in said plate, said rounded cut out regions facing one another, a punch member integral with said plate and projecting into said large cut out region and between said camming sockets, a rounded lobe on each of said one end of each of said pivotal closing members, the said lobe portion being the portion of said one end engaged in said camming socket for the rotational pivoting of said pivoting means to open and close said means toward and away from one another, said other ends facing surfaces having grooves formed therein which grooves are inwardly curving in general configuration and serve both as a direct crimping means against the clip leg and also as an anvil means allowing the clip leg tips to slide therein to complete the closure of the clip upon the inward movement of clip by said punch as the camming sockets close said pivoting means thereon.
 3. The clipper of claim 1 wherein said clipper has a top plate, a bottom plate and a pair of spacer members each of said spacer members spaced at opposite edges of and between said two plates separating said plates and said plates and said spacers being secured together to form a channel therebetween, said unitary plate ram being reciprocally mounted in said channel between said plates, a pair of pivot pins trapped between said plates, a respective one of said pivotal closing members pivotally mounted on said pivot pins, an inner shoulder on each of said pivotal closing members between said ends thereof, each of said shoulders having an edge that slopes outwardly toward said lower plate, a clip feed track passing through said unitary plate ram adjacent to said lower plate, said clip feed track directed to said shoulders which are spaced apart at their widest dimension slightly less than the widest width of the clip so that the clip will ride upwardly on said sloping shoulders popping into the path of said punch member and into the grooves of said pivotal members for crimping thereby. 